The Opelousas courier., 1887-04-02
HELD UP"
The Story Of Train Robbery
on a Western Railroad.
An Account Written to Show How Brave
Men Gan Be Intimidated.

, / saw an editorial IN a newspaper the
other day roundly abusing the passen-
gers on q train on a Western railroad VIII
allowed themselves to be stgone through
by a trio of robbers, and the edito
closed by clubbing them a set of arranr
towards. That's the way it probably
looked to great many others, but let u
view the matter from the inside of the
train.
Five or six years ago I was booming
along over an Arkansas railroad, and TIT
time was II O'Clock p. m. The ono
sleeper on the train had every berth
taken, and the two passenger coaches
were pretty we'll filled with men, women
and children. There were twelve men
in the sleeper. OF these eight had their
wives along. had a revolver, and
presume most of the other men had. We
were all asleep, and the train had stopped
at a water-tank in a lonely spot, when
three desperadoes boarded the train.
One got on between the two passenger
coaches, threw open both doors, and
standing on the platform in such a way
that he could guard both coaches, he
shouted:
"Now, then, the first one who makes
a move will get a dose Of buckshotp
He had a double arreled shotgun,
and had he fired into either car three OF
four or five people must
have been hit. The second rob-
Der got on between the last coach and
the sleeper, and the third on the rear
platform of the sleeper itself. Both doors
of this last car were thrown open to-
gether and the two men entered from op-
posite ends. We were awakened from
sweet slumber by. one of them calling:
"Now, gents, turn out your valuables!
We don't want to hurt nobody, but if a
trigger is pulled We'll open fire on the
whole car"
Well, now, what would that belliger-
ent editor have done under the circum-
stances? They were desperate men, bent
on desperate work, and held human life
as worth no more than a pound of dog
meat. His revolver would have been in T..
his pantaloons at the foot of the birth
as mine was. His wife would
have begged him for Gods sake to give
up everything, as mine did, and sas all
the other wives did. He would have
realized, as we all did, that no revolver
could be poked out from behind the cur-
tains without being seen in a second, and
that one single shot from any one of us
would have exposed each side of the car
to a fusilade of buckshot. 1t would have
been the same had we been up and
and in our seats. There would
have been a man to face us and another
behind our backs. Just take a seat on a
chair, and see how quick you can
pull a pistol from your hip
Note the movements you
to make, and then as
sert, ifyou dare, that you could get the
drop on two men whose hawk eyes were
watching the move of every finger.
The conductor and baggageman and
brakeman were in the baggage car.
They all had revolvers. but they saw at
'nce that a shot from them would be the
lcath of three or four passengers. A
bullet may miss by q hairs breadth;
ouck-shot can't help but hit.
The two men came down the car. each
With his gun in his left hand, and knife
md revolver in his belt, and stopped at
'ach berth. / Lad $185 and a gold
watch and a diamond pin. My wife had
1886 of the money and the watch and
lin before the fellows got to us. i
landed out the other fifty, and as it was
rumpled up it looked like a big roll.
"All right-that's business p chuckled
he mar as he received it. aNow for
our tickers.n
Never had one.n
'Ob, you didn't | TlI look for that as
come back.s'.
In this way the two fellows passed
ach other, taking whatever was handed
ut, and as they reached the ends of the
ar one of them fired a shot which went
trough the root, and next moment they
1erc of. No one in the passenger
caches had been robbed, and no one on
train had been injured. Why Be-
all had exhibited common sense.
hat so-ealled bravery which the editor
to signs for, might have tempted1
,me one to fire his pistol. The result
ould have been the killing of half of
those men boarded the train with
le determination to kill whoever re-
sted them, and they probably would
ave done il.
And let me say that among the '.cow- !,
ds'' In that sleeper were five ex-army !
hfcers, . Mississipian who had fought /
nee duels, md two or three other men
ho would have shot down the man who
,pugned their bravery .-[Detroit Free ]
'ess. ;
# =
JNst as 1t Happens. !
There goes q runawayln he called to t